A few major changes made today, so I wanted to make note of them to all of our loyal readers. NHL Hot Stove no longer covers Fantasy Hockey or Betting in any capacity. Starting tomorrow I will begin covering these topics for Daily Faceoff and shortly after The Sporting News.

NHL Hot Stove, however, will cover any and every rumor circulating in hockey. Here are some features we currently share and are in the process of sharing:

The Man Behind the Mask – a player profile of every NHL goaltender. Our staff writer Jose Simoes looks to continue this successful and interesting series.

Right now our focus remains on the trade deadline as well as the Olympics, but once those pass we will do some GM Profiles and Trades Revisited features as well as begin coverage of the NHL Entry Draft.

Last but not least, we picked up the Morning Papers section from the now, unfortunately disbanded Illegal Curve. We of course would like to thank them for allowing us to resume their excellent feature, you can still listen to their radio show every Wednesday from 7 – 9 PM CST.

I appreciate all of our loyal readers coming to visit this site on a daily basis and I look forward to more continued success.

The Sellers is a weekly column presented by NHLHotStove that will discuss all the rumblings and situations surrounding the teams that will most likely miss the playoffs. Heading into the March 3rd trade deadline, keep an eye out here for the bottom eight to ten teams in the league that will be known as “sellers”.

Recently, the Edmonton Oilers star defenseman and powerplay quarterback expressed his willingness to waive his no trade clause in his contract. Dan Barnes with the Edmonton Journal wrote Sheldon Souray would be open to waiving his no-trade clause should there be a fit. Of course, this trade would need to make sense.

At the ripe age of 33 one would assume this player more comfortable living at home, rather than shipping himself across country.

The Oilers began the season with promise he, but injuries prevailed. The team’s two biggest names, Nikolai Khabibulin and Ales Hemsky, most likely will miss the entire season, taking its toll on the team. Now with no playoffs in sight the club can do nothing but sell, sell, sell.

Automatically names like Souray, Shawn Horcoff, Lubomir Visnovsky and Fernando Pisani come to mind. However, would the Oilers go as far as to trade team captain Ethan Moreau?

NHL Power Rankings presented by The Hockey Guys. These rankings will be released every Sunday directly following the show and summarize the thinking of Anthony Curatolo, Brandon Augienello and Dustin Leed.

Legend: Rank – Team – Record – (Last Week) Position Change

1. Chicago Blackhawks 31-10-4 (2) +1 When you are the best you simply are the best.
2. San Jose Sharks 28-10-7 (1) -1 A few losses have shifted gears in the power rankings for the Sharks.
3. New Jersey Devils 31-10-1 (3) N/C Although the lights went out in New Jersey, the Devils haven’t lost a step in their standings.
4. Buffalo Sabres 28-11-5 (6) +2 Good teams prove that winning comes more often then not.
5. Washington Capitals 27-11-6 (9) +4 Captain Ovechking leads the charge and Washington climbs back into the top five.Read the rest of this entry »

Arguably the best Finnish player never to win a Cup, Teppo Numminen will receive recognition for his remarkable career when the Phoenix Coyotes induct him into the “Ring of Honor” on January 30, 2010. Numminen, drafted in 1986, played fifteen seasons for the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes franchise, and continued to play an additional five years for Dallas and Buffalo.

At the time of his retirement on August 4, 2009, the stay-at-home defenseman was the last player from the 1986 draft still playing in the NHL. He was a three-time all-star, a two-time silver medalist at the Olympics (along with one bronze medal), and as of January 2010, he holds the record for most NHL games (1372 games) played without winning a Cup. The longevity of his career was largely due to his vision, his positioning, and his passing.

He never won the Norris Trophy —for the league’s best defenseman — though, Jeremy Roenick once said Numminen should be up for the award every year, but the media and market of Phoenix was not conducive to winning an award. Numminen was a great captain for the Coyotes, but not many outside of Winnipeg and Phoenix gave him the recognition he deserved. His contributions to the Coyotes were outstanding; the Coyotes have not made the playoffs since trading Numminen to the Dallas Stars in July of 2003. He was never a flashy or physical player, but he gave hope to defenseman that positioning can makeup for size and strength.